Recently a situation came to light involving a nuke hitting a colony in an Earth world a tick after an attacking force which caused the returning units of the attacker to be caught in the blast and hurt to 1hp. This was followed up by an attack on the units origin when they arrived back from the attack wiping out a fair amount of units.

This situation sparked a discussion and ultimately a debate on the overall design on the nukes system because the nukes couldn't be ioned as they were not targeting the attacker's alliance which some felt was unfair. After some discussion between myself and Michael(Game creator) we came up with 2 options on how to handle what specifically happens when a nuke hits a target but we couldn't agree on which option; This is where we'd like the community's input to help decide which option we should implement:

Option 1 - Parked & Escaping squads only affected by nuke blast

Units that are on the target and squads that were sent away from the target 1 tick before a nuke hits will be affected. Units on the target will go down to 1hp and 10% will be randomly killed, squads sent away from the target 1 tick before the nuke strike will only be damaged to 1hp and none killed. Units that arrive at the same tick as a nuke either attacking or defending will not be affected by nukes and units that are leaving the target in a "returning" status will not be affected.

Units that are on the target, any squad that left the target the tick before the nuke hits regardless of status(Defending, returning, etc.) and any squads(Both attacking and defending) that arrive at the same tick as a nuke will be affected. All units drop to 1hp and 10% of only the units on the target at the time the nuke hit are killed.

Poll will remain open for 1 week and this thread will stay global(Appear in all forums) for 2 weeks. We're looking for feedback and opinions for these 2 options from all players so please feel free to not only vote but to post your opinion on the options and suggest other options if you feel both of these options don't appeal to you. You can change your vote if you like at any time until the poll is closed in a week.

Please vote based on how you feel the nuke system is best handled, either option works and we want to make sure that the community has a say in which system they would prefer.

Option one. As Andrew said above, it's unfair that players can be forced into a situation where they cannot ion a missle that will damage their troops. I doubt that this will have any major effect on gameplay since this situation doesn't arise too many times in a blue moon.

In retrospect I should've chosen neither because option one greatly reduces the power of nukes since all it takes to escape it is click on an outpost and make your squads return to it, thus getting rid of the penalty for last minute lateness.

Option one. As Andrew said above, it's unfair that players can be forced into a situation where they cannot ion a missile that will damage their troops. I doubt that this will have any major effect on gameplay since this situation doesn't arise too many times in a blue moon.

Thanks for taking the time to fix this and not letting it slide

No worries, Michael and I had quite a heated debate on this tonight and couldn't come to a consensus. Both options will work but neither of us could concede to each other's opinion on which was better.

I won't get into our full 13 page discussion and ~23 minute voice conversation but the rough arguments were:

Option 1 - Parked & Escaping squads only affected by nuke blast.

-Less hassle for the attacking side, coordination is easier for players following up nukes with units.-Players may get frustrated losing units if they attacked with the nuke on the same ETA and changing it(Option 2) may be too big a "shock".-In the situation of an attacking squad returning from a colony attack the tick before a nuke hits they shouldn't be affected because you cannot ion that nuke. Players should have more than just the option to turn back their units, this is a flaw in game design.

-There shouldn't be exceptions for any squads, if a nuke hits and your units are 1 tick away at the time of the strike then they get affected, regardless of status.-If units leave a target and then return mid-air to it they shouldn't be able to avoid damage as it makes nukes too easy to avoid and still defend the target. Option 1 will make that possible.-In the situation of a nuke hitting a colony 1 tick after squads finish an attack and are returning they should be affected. Yes the nuke(s) cannot be ioned however risky tactic requires a colony to be sacrificed(Let conquered) to work and the origin of the units to be attacked/secured to kill any units. Avoiding the nuke by returning the attack is always an option and this is a clever use of game mechanics.

We both agreed both options will work just fine and it's just a matter of preference; Michael suggested we open it up to the community for feedback and I agreed we needed community input to make a proper decision.

Of the TWO options given, I would have to say #1 is the best available.A missile that is sent to a target is sent to kill workers, units, and lower HP. The units (workers) on any outpost, colony, mine, or mill that is being attacked, or those departing within one tick, should be the only units effected.

If you have no control over disarming the missile, you shouldn't be penalized

I have a suggestion as to a certain scenaro that I've seen arise numerous times. If a missile or missiles are launched at a target and an opponent takes control of that target prior to said missile(s) landing, the burden of having to shoot them down (previously inbound albeit) in order to maintain control ticks is steep! Especially if the target is a watchtower/radar...

Couldn't it be coded so that if the target changes "alliances" during a inbound attack, that:

a) control ticks aren't taken away but units still would be damaged.b) a discounted rate to ion the missile is available, say 50 mana.

_________________SawbuckOne

DoCE (aka VND)The HORDUgTBRDOGPOSWXPNDXIRXBoSMGHSASSYNWICToWSNSPM

Last edited by SawbuckOne on Mon Jun 13, 2011 1:36 am, edited 2 times in total.

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum